As the Dome fire continues to burn in the Mojave National Preserve, 67 miles northeast of Twentynine Palms, Preserve officials are saying the blaze has burned through what they said is one of the largest Joshua tree forests in the world. “This was the healthiest and densest Joshua tree forest in existence and the heart of that is mostly gone,” a preserve official said.
Fire officials said crews are making progress on the blaze that looked “relatively quiet” Wednesday afternoon. The fire has scorched 43,248 acres and is 5 percent contained after a lightning strike near Cima Dome in the preserve ignited it on Saturday.
“We’re still dealing with some active fire in the northeast area of the fire, and the rest of the fire is looking relatively quiet,” said Bob Poole, spokesperson for the combined fire command. “Things are looking promising at this point.” He said more than 180 firefighters were assigned to the fire.
